Laureen Harper gives thumbs-up to the new Bruce Trail app! Like me, Laureen Harper,  wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper,  is an ardent hiker. In a recent Tweet, she gives an enthusiastic shout-out for the new Bruce Trail hiking app. (Of course I'm a bit biased: I'm a longtime member of the Bruce Trail Hiking Club.)   The beauty of this new app is that it helps you plan, track and log your hikes on Canada's longest marked hiking trail which is an amazing network of  885 kilometres of hiking trails between Niagara and Tobermory, Ontario.     So what's all the fuss about? These pictures speak for themselves of the incredible terrain along the Bruce Trail.

Tews Falls on the Bruce Trail (Photo courtesy of Aaron Toth/Creative Commons)

 

Hiking the Bruce Trail on a sunny afternoon escape from the city. (Courtesy Mike Sit/Creative Commons)

 

The breathtakingly beautiful Badlands, Chelthenham, Bruce Trail. (Courtesy Ian Muttoo/Creative Commons)

 

Bruce Trail crosses over Black Creek, near Limehouse, Ontario. (Courtesy Ken Mist/Creative Commons)

If you're keen to explore the Bruce Trail and are new to hiking, consider joining one of the nine local chapters of the Bruce Trail Club, which all support the Bruce Trail Conservancy, which is very much about preserving our glorious 9,700 acres of Escarpment land, which includes wetlands, open meadows, caves, towering cliffs and lush green forests - all within the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Christmas is coming: Bruce Trail gift memberships make excellent holiday presents – along with that new Bruce Trail app which Mrs. Harper and I both love!